Conveyor-driven horizontal fabric dyeing machine

ABSTRACT

A conveyor-driven horizontal fabric dyeing machine includes a machine body that is set horizontal and has a bottom to which a liquid storage tank is mounted at a predetermined location and is lower, in position, than the bottom of the machine body. The liquid storage tank has a volumetric capacity that is large enough to accommodate all or most of the amount of dye liquid falling down and returning from a rear end of a dyeing tube so as to greatly reduce the amount of the dye liquid used. Further, alternatively or additionally, a heat exchanger or a filter may be separately mounted in the liquid storage tank or both the heat exchanger and the filter are mounted in the liquid storage tank to carry out temperature raising/lowering and filtration of the dye liquid. As such, the structure of the dyeing machine is simplified.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a dyeing machine that carries out a dyeing operation on fabric, and in particular to a structure that allows a horizontal dyeing machine to reduce the amount of dye liquid used so as to make fabric dyeing more economic and more environment-friendly and also reduce damage of the fabric caused by excessive tension generated during the dyeing operation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In a conventional up-inclined or down-inclined conveyor-driven fabric dyeing machine, a machine body is arranged in an inclined state where a front end is located higher while a rear end is lower or in the form of a front-low-rear-high arrangement. A liquid storage tank is mounted to a bottom of the machine body at the rear end thereof to receive dye liquid that falls down from a rear end of a dyeing tube in order to reduce the amount of dye liquid used. The dyeing tube can be set horizontally or in a condition of slight inclination in order to reduce a height between a fabric guide roller and the conveyor, meaning to reduce a distance between the fabric guide roller and the conveyor, in order to reduce the tension and a pulling force applied to the fabric during the dyeing operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a dyeing machine, which could save a great amount of dye liquid (and thus water) even with a machine body in a horizontal form in order to reduce fabric dyeing cost and enhance environmental protection, and also to reduce a height between a fabric guide roller and a conveyor device to make the tension of the fabric driven by the fabric guide roller and the conveyor device so as to prevent organization and property of the fabric from being damaged.

The feature of the present invention is that a fabric dyeing machine comprises a machine body having a bottom to which a liquid storage tank is mounted to at a suitable location and lower than the bottom of the machine body. The liquid storage tank has a volumetric capacity sufficient to accommodate all or most of dye liquid that falls down and returns from a rear end of a dyeing tube in order to greatly reduce the amount of the dye liquid used. Further, alternatively or additionally, a heat exchanger or a filter may be separately mounted in the liquid storage tank or both the heat exchanger and the filter are mounted in the liquid storage tank to carry out temperature raising/lowering and filtration of the dye liquid. As such, the size and structure of the dyeing machine are simplified.

One technical solution of the present invention is that a machine body of a fabric dyeing machine is set in a horizontal configuration and a liquid storage tank, which is lower than a bottom of the machine body, is mounted to the bottom of the machine body at a predetermined location, such as middle, front end, or rear end, and the liquid storage tank is pre-set with a volumetric capacity for receiving dye liquid that is sufficient to accommodate all or most of the dye liquid that falls down and returns from the dyeing tube back into the machine body during an operation of the dyeing machine such that the machine body contains therein a minor portion, or even none, of the dye liquid during the operation thereof. A pipe, a pump, and a heat exchanger that is arranged externally of the machine body are connected between a bottom of the liquid storage tank and a nozzle that is arranged inside the machine body. The dye liquid is driven by the pump from the liquid storage tank to pass through the heat exchanger that is outside the machine body to supply to and jet from the nozzle, and the dye liquid returns from the rear end of the dyeing tube to directly fall into the liquid storage tank to thereby form a circulation of the dye liquid.

The present invention allows a heat exchanger that is externally of the machine body to be arranged inside the liquid storage tank and also to arranged a filter in the liquid storage tank to filter off chips and minute pieces of cotton and impurities from the dye liquid in order to simplify the structure of the dyeing machine and to further reduce the amount of water (liquid) used.

The present invention alternatively allows a heat exchanger or a filter to be individually arranged in the liquid storage tank.

The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a dyeing machine according to a first embodiment the present invention, in which a liquid storage tank is arranged at a middle portion of a machine body thereof.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a dyeing machine according to a second embodiment the present invention, in which a liquid storage tank is arranged at a rear portion of a machine body thereof.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a dyeing machine according to a third embodiment the present invention, in which a liquid storage tank is arranged at a front portion of a machine body thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

In a first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the present invention provides a conveyor-driven horizontal fabric dyeing machine, which comprises a machine body 1 that is set in a horizontal configuration. A dyeing tube 12 is arranged, horizontally or inclined, above the machine body 1 to allow fabric to move therethrough. A conveyor device 2 is arranged below the dyeing tube 12. The machine body 1 is provided, in an interior space thereof, with a nozzle 5 and a fabric guide roller 4 arranged at an upper portion of a front end thereof. The machine body 1 is provided with a liquid storage tank 6 that is mounted to a bottom thereof around a middle portion. The liquid storage tank 6 extends downward from the bottom of the machine body to a predetermined depth and the liquid storage tank 6 is preset with a volumetric capacity sufficient to accommodate all or most of the amount of dye liquid L used in the machine body 1. The liquid storage tank 6 has a bottom that is connected through piping to the nozzle 5, and a pump 7 and a heat exchanger 8 that is arranged externally of the machine body are mounted to the piping. The pump 7 is also connected through piping to a chemicals barrel 11. Control of a dyeing treatment process (which may be abbreviated as “dyeing process”) and control of the dyeing machine are achieved with a computer or a programmable logic control (PLC) of a control box 9.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the fabric 3, after being placed into the machine body 1, is driven, in the machine body 1, by the fabric guide roller 4 to move into the nozzle 5, and then enter the dyeing tube 12 to subsequently fall down back to the conveyor device 2 to be conveyed for cyclic circulation. During the course of cyclic circulation of the fabric 3, the pump 7 drives dye liquid L accumulated in the liquid storage tank 6 and the machine body of the dyeing machine to move through the heat exchanger 8 and then jet from the nozzle 5 to assist moving of the fabric 3. The dye liquid L interacts with the fabric 3 in both the nozzle 5 and the dyeing tube 12 for dyeing. The dye liquid L that falls down from a rear end of the dyeing tube 12 returns down to the bottom of the machine body such that all or most of the dye liquid L flows into and returns to the liquid storage tank 6 to accumulate therein. Since a horizontal area of the liquid storage tank 6 is smaller than that of the bottom of the machine body of the dyeing machine, the liquid level can be increased for the same amount of liquid in order to prevent excessive evacuation or vacuuming caused by the pump 7, and on the other hand, the same liquid level can be kept in the liquid storage tank 6 with a reduced amount of liquid so that the amount of the dye liquid L used can be reduced. Further, by arranging the liquid storage tank 6 as a structure internally of the machine body 1, the entire structure of the dyeing machine is simplified.

In addition to the structure described above, FIG. 1 also shows an additional heat exchanger 8 may be arranged inside the liquid storage tank 6, and also, a filter 61 may be mounted inside the liquid storage tank 6 to remove chips or minute pieces of cotton or fiber detached entraining or mixed in the dye liquid. As such, the amount of the dye liquid L used can be further reduced and the entire structure of the fabric dyeing machine can be further simplified.

A second embodiment is shown in FIG. 2 and has a structural arrangement similar to that of the first embodiment; however, the liquid storage tank 6 is mounted to the bottom of the machine body 1 at a rear end thereof and the same effect and result as those described previously can be achieved.

A third embodiment is shown in FIG. 3 and has a structural arrangement similar to that of the first embodiment; however, the liquid storage tank 6 is mounted to the bottom of the machine body 1 at a front end thereof and the same effect and result as those described previously can be achieved.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the claims of the present invention. 

I claim:
 1. A conveyor-driven horizontal fabric dyeing machine, comprising a machine body in which a conveyor device is mounted for conveying the fabric to move forward, the machine body having a bottom to which a liquid storage tank is mounted, a pump being connected between the liquid storage tank and a nozzle such that the pump draws dye liquid contained in the liquid storage tank for supply to the nozzle and a dyeing tube to dye the fabric and thereafter, the dye liquid is conducted to directly fall back into the liquid storage tank; wherein the machine body set in a horizontal configuration and the liquid storage tank is mounted to the bottom of the machine body at a predetermined location, the liquid storage tank having a volumetric capacity sufficient to accommodate all or most of an amount of the dye liquid that circulates with the fabric to fall from the dyeing tube down back to the machine body during a dyeing operation in which the pump is in operation.
 2. The conveyor-driven horizontal fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein the liquid storage tank is provided therein with one of a heat exchanger and a filter.
 3. The conveyor-driven horizontal fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein the liquid storage tank is provided therein with both a heat exchanger and a filter. 